Bihar School of Yoga

Bihar School of Yoga

Hi, I am Shantanu Misra, 3rd year Under-graduate student, Civil Engg., IIT Kanpur. I applied for the SPIC MACAY Scholarship to Bihar School of Yoga. I had applied for this scholarship because I was: 1. Interested in Yoga, wanted to make it a part of my life. 2. Wanted to experience ashram-life. 3. Wanted to de-stress. While I was preparing to go to Rikhia where the ashram was located, I was expecting to see yogis sitting in deep meditation and practicing yoga all day long. Of course, I was proved wrong and moreover, I discoverd how little I knew about yoga. Our schedule in the ashram was: • • • • • • • • • • •

5:30-6:30: Asana Class 6:30: Breakfast 7:00-9:30: Clinic duty/Yajnashala cleaning/Bhet packing 9:30-10:30: Chanting & Pranayama Class 10:30: Lunch 11:30-2:30: Rest/Library duty 2:30: Tea 3:00-4:00: Yoga Nidra Class 4:00-5:30: Gardening 5:30: Dinner 6:30: Evening Programme- Kirtan

Well, I know it looks very simple this way, but in the beginning it was difficult to get adjusted to this new timing. We had to get up at around 4:30. At times, I used to get up thanks to my alarm and on other occasions Deepak Choudhary, my friend who had also applied for the same scholarship used to wake me up. The morning class was taken by Swami Nitya Chaitanya, who we later discovered was an earstwhile Oriya movie superstar!!! He was a very passionate

teacher who was very keen to share his experiences and knowledge with us. During the beginning of our stay, his words really helped us to adjust to the changed atmosphere. We used to do all kinds of asanas, and after the class, I used to feel very comfortable with my body and I discovered that one hour of asana in the morning really sets me up for the day. The class was followed by breakfast. For breakfast, we had black tea, poha/upma etc. It was light and good. After breakfast, for the major portion of our stay in the ashram, we used to go help in the clinic. It was a good experience interacting with the villagers and explaining medicines to them. On other days, we used to help in the cleaning of the yajnashala, and towards the end of our stay we were also involved in bhet packing for Guru Poornima, which was probably the best out of the 3 sewas (karma yoga) due to the extremely funny Swami Jyoti (who was an Australian). I would like to digress here. When I had gone to Rikhia, I had expected to learn yoga. I had not expected that most of my time would be spent in doing various jobs (sewa) in the ashram. In the beginning, it felt a little taxing but I gradually discovered and learnt from the sannyasins there that this sewa is also yoga and it is probably this karma yoga which will have the most profound effect on our personality and our self. I, on coming back from the ashram, realised that this is absolutely true. Actually, the Bihar School of Yoga propagates what they like to call “Integral Yoga”, that is a combination of Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. Coming back to my daily schedule, at 9:30 we used to have chanting and pranayama class. This class was also very good and it was a great experience to listen to the kannyas singing in their clear and loud voices. Actually, during my stay, my chanting abilities really improved. After 2 weeks, as we started approaching Guru Poornima, this class was cancelled since the yajnashala was being prepared for Guru Poornima. The time which we got was utilised in sewa. At 10:30, we used to take lunch which was generally rice, along with daal and some vegetable and salad. After lunch, on days when it was very hot (as it generally was with maximum temperature reaching up to 51 degree celsius) we were sent back to Shivananda Ashram, where we were staying, to rest. We had rest up to 2:30 during which we were supposed to clean the Shivananda Ashram. On days when it was not that hot, we used to work in the library. The work was interesting as it was fun being around the extremely expressive (almost theatrical) Swami Chetan Shakti. She was an Irish sannyasin. I mainly used to do some typing work there.

At 2:30 we had our evening tea. After that we had our Yoga Nidra Class at 3:00. Yoga Nidra is a very powerful practice. While on some days I did experience it fully but on other occasions, I had no idea when yoga nidra progressed into a really sound sleep!!! After the yoga nidra class, we used to go for watering of plants in the ashram. At 5:30, we had dinner. Dinner was generally fabulous. We had pizza, pav bhaji, chow mien, white sauce , sandwich etc. After dinner, we had the evening programme which included kirtans, prayers and also some dance and musical performances by the kanyas and batuks and sometimes by the guests of the ashrams as well. I and Deepak had a chance to present a mime in one of the evening programme. The stay in the ashram was very enriching. We had a lot of discussions with the various sannyasins there. We had a one hour chat with Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati ji, who was the peethadheeshwari of the ashram. It was very stimulating. Apart from that, we had a lot of discussions with other sannyasins as well on yogic philosophy, India’s past and the various facets and benefits of yoga. We also received a lot of gifts from the ashram (probably a little too many!!!). But the greatest gift was probably the knowledge of yoga and of the importance of its daily practice and the positive effects it can have on us. I also developed a greater respect for our cultural heritage. Another important thing that I realised during the course of my stay was the importance of discipline in any pursuit, spiritual or material. I realised the importance of sewa or karma yoga. Some of the sannyasins, especially foreigners, used to work from dusk until dawn in the sapping heat of Jharkhand. The stay in the ashram was probably an eye-opener for me in many ways. I would recommend anyone interested in yoga in particular, or spirituality and Indian culture in general to go for this scholarship. I would like to thank SPIC MACAY for providing me with this priceless opportunity. I really look forward to spending more time in the ashram whenever I get an opportunity.

Shantanu Misra.